1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for organizing, storing and retrieving knowledge.
2. Related Art
Presently, a great deal of human knowledge is organized in such information structures as databases, collections of text documents, collections of expert system rules, etc. However, knowledge contained in such structures is difficult to efficiently identify, locate and retrieve when needed.
One known, more efficient, knowledge storage and retrieval system is the Hyperknowledge knowledge base developed by Hyperknowledge Corporation and described by Trevor Davies in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,396, issued Dec. 14, 1999, referred to hereinafter as Davies, and incorporated herein in its entirety, by reference. In knowledge bases organized under the principles of Davies, referred to hereinafter as linked knowledge models, four useful relationships between elements of the knowledge represented are contained in links between the elements. The relationships are conveniently represented by the points of a compass rose, as shown in FIG. 1, indicating that information xe2x80x9cWestxe2x80x9d of a selected concept elaborates xe2x80x9cWhyxe2x80x9d relative to the selected concept, while information xe2x80x9cEastxe2x80x9d of the selected concept elaborates xe2x80x9cHowxe2x80x9d relative to the selected concept. Further, information xe2x80x9cSouthxe2x80x9d of the selected concept elaborates xe2x80x9cWhatxe2x80x9d relative to the selected concept, while information xe2x80x9cNorthxe2x80x9d of the selected concept elaborates xe2x80x9cWhat isxe2x80x9d relative to the selected concept. The directions North, South, West and East are conveniently represented in visual presentations of linked knowledge models by placing information elaborating xe2x80x9cWhat isxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cWhatxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cWhyxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cHowxe2x80x9d respectively above, below, to the left of and to the right of the selected concept. As explained by Davies, the relationships indicated by opposing direction pairs, i.e., North-South (What is-What) and East-West (How-Why), are complementary.
Embodiments of the present invention help a user to find knowledge pertinent to a user, rather than finding unconnected, raw information. Knowledge is used herein to refer to information which has been organized according to context and meaning, while information is used herein to refer to raw information which is unorganized or organized according to other criteria, such as input format, vocabulary used, source, etc.
To find knowledge, embodiments of the present invention receive information as natural language and produce therefrom a linked knowledge model. The linked knowledge model can then be navigated to extract knowledge, according to the relationships xe2x80x9cHowxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cWhyxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cWhatxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cWhat isxe2x80x9d discussed above, using a user interface, which visually facilitates making the connections between pieces of information.
Embodiments of the present invention can increase a user""s knowledge by augmenting the knowledge base available to the user in the form of a linked knowledge model. Gaps in the linked knowledge model and edges or boundaries of the linked knowledge model are susceptible to automatic detection. Embodiments of the invention can therefore detect such gaps and edges and search for missing information on an ad hoc, regularly scheduled or other basis.
Some embodiments of the invention can include user interfaces which automatically analyze the knowledge sought in inquires, for example received by email, and prepare responses to those inquiries based on the contents of a dynamic linked knowledge model accessible to the user. Moreover, the contents of queries and other received information can be related to the information already contained in the linked knowledge model, to expand the model, automatically. The linked knowledge model can also be presented in various useful formats, depending on the type of knowledge sought.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is a system for storing and retrieving knowledge, comprising a text analyzer having an input which receives information as natural language and which produces at an output annotated information, a parser having an input which receives the annotated information from the text analyzer and which produces and stores in a memory a linked knowledge model thereof, and a user interface presenting at least one pair of complementary relationships to an operator, through which the operator can navigate the linked knowledge model to retrieve knowledge. The system can further comprise a knowledge research agent having an input receiving the linked knowledge model and having an output on which the knowledge research agent produces a query compatible with an external search engine. The Hyperknowledge agent may automatically augment the linked knowledge model with new information found by executing the query on the external search engine. In the system, the parser can further comprise a Rules Engine executing a plurality of rules defining a structure of knowledge embedded in information expressed in natural language. The linked knowledge model may include connected noun/verb phrase pairs, and the plurality of rules may define how sentences in natural language relate to connected noun/verb phrase pairs in the linked knowledge model. The rules may include at least one semantic rule, at least one syntactic rule or at least one context rule.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is a method for retrieving knowledge. The method comprises presenting to an operator a selector by which the operator indicates one of a pair of complementary relationships and a query input by is which the operator indicates query text, and combining the one of the pair of complementary relationships indicated and the query text to form a query by which knowledge is retrieved. According to the method of this aspect of the invention, the selector may further define four directions characterized by complementary pairs of directions, each direction representing a relationship. The selector may further be presented in a graphical form resembling a compass rose. The method may further comprise storing knowledge in a linked knowledge model including noun/verb phrase pairs, searching the linked knowledge model for a first noun/verb phrase pair defined by the query text, and retrieving a second noun/verb phrase pair from the linked knowledge model bearing the indicated one of the pair of complementary relationships to the first noun/verb phrase pair. Finally, searching may further comprise parsing a natural language query text into a searchable Boolean expression.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is a method for storing knowledge, comprising parsing a natural language document into a linked knowledge model including connected noun/verb phrase pairs, identifying portions of the linked knowledge model in which a level of knowledge represented is lower relative to other portions of the linked knowledge model, and executing searches of external information for additional knowledge related to the identified portions of the linked knowledge model. According to this method, the identified portions of the linked knowledge model may further include a first noun/verb phrase pair lacking a second noun/verb phrase pair related by at least one of two complementary relationships defined between the noun/verb phrase pairs.
According to other aspects of the invention, each of the foregoing aspects of the invention may be embodied as a software product including a machine readable medium on which is encoded a sequence of software instructions which when executed direct the performance of one of the methods discussed above, or which cause a general purpose computer to act as a special purpose system as defined above.